CAME FROM NOWHERE

 CAME FROM NOWHERE

Those of us who have had the [mis] fortune of having to settle in new places every 20 months+ or so, would concur with my  title ‘ Came from nowhere ‘ a personality , volunteering to know if you need any help. He would right away drop into your new premises- may be an official residence allotted, or a rented accommodation that you have chosen to be in. Came from nowhere  [C F N]would immensely suit him , as he presented himself before you on a hot afternoon in the month of May- the time that you had landed in the new place consequent to an official transfer in your government job.  Irrespective of your gender, you presume him be a ‘nuisance- uninvited’, as you are unable to respond to him for his  question instantly as to- ‘if you need any help?’

With the stranger in your verandah, within 15 minutes of your arrival, you are impelled to say -NO; Our [CFN] in no hurry said, OK and left the place. In the next 30 minutes or so, your office peon, witha letter of introduction calls on you and you turn into the house and ask your Mrs. if she needs something , she reminds you of the evening coffee; you seek to know if we can get it from any good hotel nearby and also to arrange for milk supply from the morrow. The office peon hesitantly says, Sir, I shall send a boy who would be at your service whenever you call him. You simply concur-‘OK- send him’ In the next 7 minutes our [CFN] reappears in your verandah and you cast a cold look on him. Undaunted, he stands glued to the place. Even as you try to remind him of your earlier reply to him, he draws your attention to the ‘office letter’, and adds Sir, they advised me to attend your needs. Sir, please don’t hesitate, in this town I am well known. Meanwhile your cell phone turns alive with your immediate subordinate on -line. At the caller’s  behest, hiding the phone in to your pant pocket you ask for the [CFN]’S name; pat drops the reply ‘Chellappaa’. You whisper that name into the phone and man at the other end shouts enthusiastically, yes sir, yes sir, the same person -you can make use of him.

You now tell Chellappaa  to fetch 2-3 cups of coffee, and CFN  quickly asks anything else? You brief him for daily milk supply from the next day on. Before you could finish Chellappaa has flown. In the next 20 minutes CFN reappears with a flask and politely places it on the table and asks for cups. The lady passes on two cups from her baggage. CFN being a smart guy runs around to the back yard wash area and thoroughly cleans the cups and dispenses two steam hot coffees into the cups and rapidly moves out to the verandah.  Sipping the coffee, the official and his wife look at each other in disbelief -suggesting ‘such a fantastic coffee-in this place’. Now madam asks her husband ‘What is his name?’   Well, before the man could respond CFN comes in telling ‘Chellappaa’. .  He collects the cups [with no trace of coffee in both] and brings them back well-washed, and inverts them over a newspaper -too old for current news, and hands over a piece of paper with a phone number. The officer --“is it your number? No Sir, it is shop number, you tell my name, I will be   before you in no time. The man left the place without waiting for money on coffee. After he left, the lady felt awkward of their being too selfish with a man - who runs errands for you even if you just murmur.

Like all higher-ups, ‘Chellappa’ was remembered only when their craving for supper began. The phone number was used and CFN, as ever lent his services before 7.40 pm and said, “Sir milk has been arranged. Sir, they will bring 1 lt of milk but you can get the quantity you need, quality assured Cow’s milk”. Now the lady settled their dues for Coffee, Supper - a modest amount for the excellent stuff hot and tasty at no extra cost at your door step!

The world trusts well-dressed cheats and tries to rubbish honest help. Please remember strangers in strange places are not always strange. 

 Prof. K. Raman